Juan Manuel Marquez: How 'Dinamita' Has Complicated Boxing

Last night, Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Marquez fought Manny Pacquiao for the third time in their respective careers.  

Most expected Pacquiao—the 8:1 favorite—to knock out the 38-year-old Mexican boxer in the first half of the fight.

That did not happen.  Instead, the two fought a typical Pacquiao-Marquez fight—a moderate tempo, cautious, back and forth battle, topped off with a highly controversial decision.  And frankly, if one of the three fights should have gone to Marquez, it was this most recent one.

And this pisses everybody off.

Since 2008, Manny Pacquiao has dominated every opponent he has faced, regardless of size.  He beat up Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, and Shane Mosley with far more decisiveness than undefeated arch-rival Floyd Mayweather had.  And when Mayweather returned to boxing after a two-year hiatus in 2009, we all began salivating over a potential super-fight between the two ring legends, a fight Mayweather would lose.

But there was a slight issue.  When Mayweather made his comeback to boxing, he fought Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao's toughest-ever opponent, from his featherweight days.  We all thought Marquez would, at the very least, give Mayweather a tough fight.  Instead, Mayweather simply dominated Marquez.

We figured it out, though.  Marquez was not fit to be fighting at that weight.  He had clearly sacrificed too much speed, and on top of that, he was getting too old to be fighting.  Pacquiao would clearly knock Marquez out if they ever fought again, especially at welterweight.

And now we're screwed, because Mayweather beat Marquez, who clearly could have beaten Pacquiao.  Marquez clearly did not struggle with the weight, and he clearly was not too old.  So that means that Mayweather will destroy Pacquiao.

But does it?

We as fans have to remember the age-old saying in boxing: Styles make fights.  Boxing is not so one-dimensional.  Think back to Frazier, Ali and Foreman, or Duran, Hagler, Hearns and Leonard. Everybody would beat one another.  It would be unfair to say that Hearns was better than Duran—though he knocked Duran out cold—because Duran beat the man that beat Hearns.

It's the same case here.  We have to realize that if Pacquiao moved up to heavyweight and proceeded to knock out both Klitschko brothers, Marquez would follow him up to heavyweight and still give him a tough fight.  Marquez's near victory over Pacquiao has not proven that Pacquiao can't beat Mayweather, though we cannot help but feel that way at this point.  Marquez has just made things complicated.